3 Stocks Pushing The Financial Sector Lower

Editor's Note: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model

All three major indices are trading up today with the Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI) trading up 83 points (0.6%) at 13,218 as of Monday, Dec. 17, 2012, 11:50 AM ET. The NYSE advances/declines ratio sits at 1,927 issues advancing vs. 999 declining with 148 unchanged.

TheStreet Ratings group would like to highlight 3 stocks pushing the sector lower today:

3. Sun Life Financial ( SLF) is one of the companies pushing the Financial sector lower today. As of noon trading, Sun Life Financial is down $0.48 (-1.7%) to $27.71 on average volume Thus far, 241,779 shares of Sun Life Financial exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 379,700 shares. The stock has ranged in price between $27.55-$27.96 after having opened the day at $27.95 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $28.19.

Sun Life Financial Inc., an international financial services organization, provides a range of protection and wealth accumulation products and services to individuals and corporate customers. Sun Life Financial has a market cap of $16.8 billion and is part of the insurance industry. The company has a P/E ratio of 28.8, above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 52.2% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday. Currently there are 2 analysts that rate Sun Life Financial a buy, no analysts rate it a sell, and 7 rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates Sun Life Financial as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its solid stock price performance, increase in net income, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures, reasonable valuation levels and growth in earnings per share. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had somewhat disappointing return on equity. Get the full Sun Life Financial Ratings Report now.

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2. As of noon trading, Bank of Montreal ( BMO) is down $0.32 (-0.5%) to $60.54 on average volume Thus far, 184,577 shares of Bank of Montreal exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 395,600 shares. The stock has ranged in price between $60.43-$61.09 after having opened the day at $61.01 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $60.86.

Bank of Montreal, together with its subsidiaries, provides various retail banking, wealth management, and investment banking products and services in North America and internationally. Bank of Montreal has a market cap of $39.7 billion and is part of the banking industry. The company has a P/E ratio of 9.9, below the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 11.0% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday. Currently there is 1 analyst that rates Bank of Montreal a buy, 1 analyst rates it a sell, and 6 rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates Bank of Montreal as a hold. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its impressive record of earnings per share growth, compelling growth in net income and revenue growth. However, as a counter to these strengths, we find that we feel that the company's cash flow from its operations has been weak overall. Get the full Bank of Montreal Ratings Report now.

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1. As of noon trading, HDFC Bank ( HDB) is down $0.37 (-0.9%) to $40.81 on average volume Thus far, 346,924 shares of HDFC Bank exchanged hands as compared to its average daily volume of 628,400 shares. The stock has ranged in price between $40.38-$41.02 after having opened the day at $40.39 as compared to the previous trading day's close of $41.18.

HDFC Bank Limited, together with its subsidiaries, provides retail banking, wholesale banking, treasury, and other financial services to individual and business customers in India. HDFC Bank has a market cap of $32.4 billion and is part of the banking industry. The company has a P/E ratio of 33.7, above the S&P 500 P/E ratio of 17.7. Shares are up 57.5% year to date as of the close of trading on Friday. Currently there is 1 analyst that rates HDFC Bank a buy, no analysts rate it a sell, and none rate it a hold.

TheStreet Ratings rates HDFC Bank as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, notable return on equity, growth in earnings per share, increase in net income and solid stock price performance. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company is trading at a premium valuation based on our review of its current price compared to such things as earnings and book value. Get the full HDFC Bank Ratings Report now.

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A reminder about TheStreet Ratings group: TheStreet ratings do not represent the views of TheStreet's staff or its contributors. Ratings are established by computer based on metrics for performance (which includes growth, stock performance, efficiency and valuation) and risk (volatility and solvency). Companies with poor cash flow or high debt levels tend to earn lower ratings in our model.